An Edinburgh mum's bid to get access to cannabis oil to help her son's epilepsy has nearly reached the 200,000 signatures required to force the UK Parliament to debate the issue.

Karen Gray, 43, launched a petition for Cannabidiol (CBD) oil to be prescribed to her son Murray whose rare Myoclonic Astatic Epilepsy can reportedly cause him up to 600 seizures a day.

The petition, which she created two months ago, currently has around 180,000 signatures - just 20,000 short of the required target.

It calls for medical cannabis to be made legally available on the NHS.

Karen's petition states that it has been proven in other countries that medical cannabis helps people with similar illnesses and that in the USA it has been used to help stop the daily aggressive seizures that children with the same syndrome as Murray have.

She states: "If medical cannabis was available on the NHS my son may have a chance of a normal life."

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In March, Karen's local MP Christine Jardine called on the Home Office to clarify the rules for health boards across the UK, so those who want to be treated with cannabis oil can access it.

In a written parliamentary question, Jardine had asked former Home Secretary Amber Rudd to set out "what steps have been taken to make the substance accessible for those who need it for the management of chronic and terminal illness".

Cannabis-based medicines are banned in the UK and regulation of their use is reserved to Westminister (Image: Getty)

Her battle for to gain access to the cannabis-based treatment is also backed by Scotland's Health Secretary Shona Robison MSP.

The SNP minister met with Karen on May 16 and said GW Pharmaceuticals - a company that creates cannabinoid-based medicines like Epidiolex - have applied for a license to treat Murray on compassionate grounds.

The stricken five-year-old suffers with a rare form of the disease called Myoclonic Astatic Epilepsy which can cause him up to 50 seizures an hour.